During the next month, the broadcast networks are rolling out at least 10 new midseason series. NBC unveiled its epic drama "Kings" last week. Two new ABC sitcoms are coming, "Better Off Ted" this week and "In the Motherhood" next. And Fox has a variety show with the Ozzy Osbourne clan, which, given its erratic history could result in either spontaneous brilliance or spontaneous combustion. Is there a hit somewhere in this bunch? The networks could sure use one.

Television's current incarnation of the super-man doesn't fly or repel bullets, can't lift a car with one hand or live forever; he doesn't even (with sincere apologies to the return of Jack Bauer) regularly take out entire platoons of bad guys with a single handgun. Instead he possesses the talent that many of us increasingly believe to be the Holy Grail of heroics: He can tell when someone is lying.

There are those who say this is not the time for a big Hollywood bash -- the economy is too down, the fears are too high. Mike Goodridge, the vice president of the Hollywood Foreign Press Assn., which puts on the Golden Globe Awards, would not be one of those people. "I think everyone wants a party at the moment," Goodridge said this week. "There's such a gloomy feeling around town. Hopefully this can be a catalyst to have some fun."

The cable television industry is ready to introduce an advanced video-on-demand service that would provide rebroadcasts of programs without commercials and without a fee paid to the producers. But the prospect has sent a shudder through the television and film industries, which could lose the right to profit from their work in the era of video on demand. All that stands in the way is a final clearance from the Supreme Court.

The CW, known for its stable of prissy fashionista reality programming, is looking to broaden its brand with primal fear. The network's latest reality show is called "13: Fear Is Real," which premieres at 8 p.m. Wednesday. The show, created by Sam Raimi (the "Spider-Man" and "Evil Dead" film series), pits 13 contestants against one another in a series of challenges inspired by frightening situations from horror movies.